Sotheby’s and Edconic Launch Paid, Credit-Bearing Fellowship for Sotheby’s Institute Master’s Students
A new fellowship program at Sotheby’s is testing a simple proposition: in today’s art economy, structured work experience may be as consequential as another credential.
In February, education company Edconic partnered with Sotheby’s to formalize a 12-week fellowship for master’s students at Sotheby’s Institute of Art in New York. The pilot cohort will include 20 students, who will work inside the auction house while earning academic credit. Participants will also be paid, with Edconic chief executive Brandon Busteed saying compensation will be “well above the minimum wage.”
The initiative marks a closer operational relationship between Sotheby’s and Sotheby’s Institute than has typically been visible since the institute was spun out in 2003 and began licensing the auction house’s name. While the two entities have largely operated at arm’s length, the new program is designed to place graduate students directly into the day-to-day machinery of an auction house — a setting where many early-career pathways are shaped as much by proximity and mentorship as by formal training.
Busteed argues the fellowship responds to what he describes as a “triple-whammy” facing new graduates: a shrinking pool of entry-level jobs, higher levels of student debt, and growing competition from artificial intelligence for junior roles. He also points to grade inflation as a quieter but significant pressure, making it harder for students to differentiate themselves through academic performance alone.
Internships have long served as a gateway into professional life, and the data suggests they remain one of the most reliable. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, companies in the US extend offers to an average of 72% of their interns. In the art world, where hiring often runs through informal networks, that conversion rate carries particular weight.
Yet access to internships is uneven. Busteed notes that family connections still play an outsized role in who gets placed, arguing that “a third of internships come through family connections, and not everyone has that social capital.” By attaching pay and academic credit to a defined placement, the Sotheby’s fellowship aims to make the entry point more legible — and, at least in part, more equitable.
Financially, the arrangement splits responsibilities between the partners. Sotheby’s will compensate fellows through its own payroll and commit staff time and resources to training. Sotheby’s Institute will reimburse any financial cost associated with the program, which Busteed describes as an extension of the school’s educational infrastructure — akin to faculty, library resources, or career services — with the explicit goal of improving job outcomes.
The New York fellowship is also positioned as additive rather than a replacement for existing opportunities. Sotheby’s already runs a separate summer internship program in New York that takes on around 40 interns each year.
Plans are underway to expand the fellowship to London, likely around this time next year, with an aim of scaling to 60 students in total across locations. If the rollout proceeds as intended, the program could become a notable case study in how art-world education providers and major market institutions respond to a changing labor landscape — one in which credentials alone no longer guarantee a foothold, and practical experience is increasingly treated as part of the curriculum rather than an optional extra.
